Leather-finishing machine



, W. E- FEIGE.

LEATHER Hmsmne MAcHmE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26, 1920.

11,l 1921. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Inl/@mrs wmll'ly,

QNY www Patented Jan.-1'1', 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- I UNITED PATENT OFFICE.

LEATHER-FINISHING MACHINE Specification of Letters` Patent.A

Patented Jan. 11, 1921.

Application filed February 26, 1920. Serial'No. 361,462.

To all whom t 'may concern: l y

Be it knownv that I, Trimmer Finch, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milford, in the county of l/Vorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and Vuseful Improvements in Leather-Finishing `Machines, of which the followingis a specification. o I

This invention relates to n machines for finishing leather and more particularly to a machine of this type adapted to finish the leather elements used in the construction of shoes, such as the tip, vamp, and those edges of the upper which are exposed in the finished article. The object of the invention is the provision of a machine adapted to compress and compact and at the same time loriskly rub the material to effect a smooth edge, a Isuitable coloring liquid Acorresponding to the tone of the body of the leather being' previously applied tothe edge, so as to be forced therein to remove the raw edge appearance of the leather after it has been cut into the proper shape.

Another and more specific object of my invention is the provision of a machine having an improved type of feed mechanism by which the leather article is evenly fed to the finishing tool and held in satisfactory position while in engagement with this tool.

A further object of the invention is to in- ,sure at all times a satisfactoryA engagement of the material with vthe 4finishing' tool. Another improved feature and object ofthe invention is a machine adapted to be employed in connection lwith practically all kinds of leather whichcnter intothe con# struction ofshoes.

Other and moreminute objects of invention, such as the provision of a compact'and durable mechanism', a `machine simple in construction and readily operable, vwill be'- come obvious from a reading Yofthe follow? ing description, an inspectionof the accom-V panying drawings and a careful consideration of the appended claims, wherein the in` vention is more definitely pointedout.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l isA a sectional front elevational view,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view,

Fig. 3 is an elevational view indicating the attachment of an additional guide,

Fie 4. is e 'vertical Crass Sectional View. ,ef

Fig. 6 'is a top pla-n view of the edge. finish- 'inoi tool or disk,

4ig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7fof Fig. 6, and

Figs. 8 to ll are sectional detail views of portions of various forms of finishing disks adapted to be used in conjunction with the machine.

I am aware of the fact that it is well known in the art to provide a machine adapted to burnish and bevel the edge of leather but it is the obj ect'of this invention, as above pointed out, to improve upon these machines in numerous details, the hereinbefore'imeir tioned objects of invention being attained features of construction now to be described in turn in connection with the specific and detail description of the machine. In the accompanying drawings 'l indicates a frame having a suitablebase B formed at its upper portion with two; substantially paral lei laterally extending arms 3 and 4:. The arm 3 has extending therethrough a shaft fj having a suitable ball bearing 6 at one end and supported at its other end is a hearing formedof halves 7 and 7*"which surround the shaft and are slidable transversely of the arm 3. The lower bearing half 7a is formed. with a reduced portion 8 extending through an opening 9 in the arm 3 and resting upon a spring finger 10 secured to the frame at 11 and adapted to be adjusted to exert a varying pressure upon Vthe bearing bymeans of Lay set screw" 12 which passes through the; finger l()y and enters the frame. It will be under? stood that other means could readily.y be 'profH vided forv adjusting the slide bearing for the shaft y5'but the means above described has been found to be entirely satisfactory. Thev upper half 7l?` of this bearing rests upon the shaft 5 and is held in position yby means of a spring finger 13 secured to the fraine by any suitable means as at 14'.. -It will be noted that by adjusting the spring yfingery means of the set screw l2 thel pressure of the former upon the bearing half 7 will be .varied and the latter will be accordinglyV rais@ @i leased thereby vertically @diret ally extending flange 18. r1`his flange is provided with peripheral spaced ropenings through which freely pass pins 19. to the inner threaded ends of which on the interior of the flange 18 are adjustably secured nuts 2O which serve to limit the outward movement of the pins through their respective openings. On the exterior of the hub flange and connected to the outer ends of the pins 19 are rim sections 21, one section being suitably connected to each pin in any satisfactory manner, 1n the present instance by means of threading on the ends of the pins which enter sockets in the rim sections. The rim sections are held in spaced relation with the hub flange bv means of individual curved springs 22 through the central portions of which pass the pins 19 and the ends 22fL of which engage the interior of the rim sections. It may be noted at this point that the size of the feed roll may be readily varied by adjusting the nuts 20 upon the pins 19 and thus moving inwardly or outwardly radially of the feed roll each of the rim sections. The feed roll is provided with a suitable heinispherical cap 23 which is secured to the shaft 5 by means of a screw 24C passing through the cap and entering a socket 25 in the end of the shaft, thereby pressing the hub 17 against the shaft flange 5.

To coperate with the feed roller and to guide the material over the latter the upper arm 4 of the frame is provided at its forward end with forked bearing 26 in which is located upon a horizontal axis the guide roller 27 in position slightly spaced above the feed roller. There is also provided the necessary burnishing or edge finishing tool which, in the present instance, is located in close proximity and in substantially tangential relation with the feed roller. This tool, in the present instance, comprises a rotary disk 28 which has its axis at right angles to the axis of the feed roller and is fixedly and detachably secured by any suitable means, such as the screw 29 and the pin 30, to a vertical shaft 31 having a bearing 32 in the forward end of the frame rim l.

The edge finishing disk 28, as stated above, is detachably secured to its shaft, is generallyf constructed of machinists7 red fibel', and the peripheral construction of the same may be varied in accordance with the character of the work that is tobe done. understood, of course, that when the mate- It will bev rial to be finished is the edge of a single piece of leather a different tool will be used than when it is desired to finish the edges of two pieces of leather stitched together. In Figs. 8 to 11 inclusive there are shown various forms of disks adapted for this work. 1n F ig. 8 the disk is provided with two grooves 33 divided by a central rib 34 having a relatively sharp edge. The outer walls of each of the grooves are rabbeted as at 35. A construction such as above described is for use in nishing the parallel edges of two pieces of leather which are stitched together adjacent their edges, the rib 34 entering between the two pieces of leather and the rabbeted outer walls of the grooves briskly engaging the outer or grain sides of the leather. The interior or curved walls of the grooves compact the edges of the leather to thereby round or bevel the same and effectively set the coloring matter thereinto and to remove the appearance of a raw or freshly cut edge.

The disk shown in Fig. 9 is substantially similar to that shown in Fig. 8, being provided with the grooves 33 and the central rib 34. 1t is to be noted, however, that the outer walls of the grooves are not rabbeted.

In Figs. 10 and 11 are shown disks adapted for use in connection with the finishing of the edges of single pieces of leather, but a single groove 36 being provided, one of the walls of which may be rabbeted as at 87. 1t is to be observed that the construction shown in Fig. 11 provides a rabbeted wall of slightly sharper construction.

In connection with the finishing disks there is provided means for insuring the engagement of the material fed over the feed roller with the grooves in the disk. 1t has been found in connection with the use of machines of this type that it is difficult to obtain the entrance of the edge of the leather into the burnishing grooves of the tool and it is necessary, in machines heretofore constructed, for ythe operator to at all times exert pressure upon the material so as to urge the same against the disk. Referring to Figs. 6 and 7 1 have shown means adapted to automatically accomplish this purpose, the samebeing secured to the finishing disk and comprising wiping fingers 88 secured to each face of the disk by any suitable means, as by bolts 39 passing through the disk and the fingers. It is not necessary to provide any particular number of these ngers and in the illustrated embodiment of my invention they have been shown as eight in number, four being upon each face of the disk. The fingers extend slightly beyond the periphery of the disk and have transversely curved and outwardly bent tips or claws 40 which serve to engage the edge of the leather and wipe the same into the ygroove of the disk, holding the leather in this position for essere a period sufficient to permit the tool to perform its function. A

It may sometimes be found desirable to provide additional guide means to that already described and in Fig. 3 there is shown attache-d to the arm 3 of the frame a guide 4 1, secured to the frameby means of a set screw 42 and having laterally extending fingers 43 positioned in front of the finishing tool, the fingers having upwardly turned flared ends 44 adjacent the feed and guide rolls. As indicated in Fig. 1 there is also secured to the frame a pivoted arm 45 moving about a central pivot 46 and having at its end adjacent the edge tool block 47 adapted to frictionally engage the rotary disk for the purpose of braking the same and also securing a certain degree of heat through the friction. The friction block 47 is urged against the disk by means of a contractile spring 48 secured to the arm 4 at 49 and to the end of the arm 45.

Rotary movement may be imparted to the machine parts from any suitable source of power and by any satisfactory transmission means, but in the present case I have shown a pulley 5() upon the end of the shaft 5 and c a pulley 51 upon the upper end of the tool shaft 31. A belt 52 is shown as traversing the pulley 51, idlers 53 upon the frame, and extending downwardly to the source of power (not shown). A belt 54 traverses the pulley 50 and may connect the same to a source of power.

In operation the material is fed by means of the feed roller 16 and is suitably guided thereon by the guide roller 26. If an additional guide is desired one of the type shown in Fig. 3 may be secured to the machine. As the material is fed over the feed roller and between the latter and the guide roller 26, the various rim sections of the feed roller as they come beneath the guide roller, are slightly compressed inwardly of the feed roller thereby giving a'substantially :dat support for the material at this point and thus permitting` the presentation of a substantially straight and uncurved edge of the material to the finishing tool. In machines wherein this type of feed roller is not employed, and in which there is no provision for retaining the material in substantially fiat condition adjacent the finishing tool, the edge of the material presented to the finishing tool is curved and therefore the length of the same which enters the groove is substantially limited'. It is to be noted that provision is made for vertically adjusting the feed roller in accordance with the thickness of the work to be operated upon, thus permitting an adjustment of the relative positions of the finishing tool and the feed roller. It should also be borne in mind that by the provision of the wipers located upon the edging disks the engagement of the material with the grooves of the edging, disks is at all times insured and the proper operation of the machine is therefore less de pendent upon skill and attention on the part of the operator.

It being borne in mind that the machine shown `in the accompanyingl drawings is merely an illustrative embodiment of my invention and that auch modifications may be made therein as come within the scope of my invention and the following claims,

IVhat I claim is: i

1. In a machine of the class described, a feed roll, a guide roll arranged above the feed roll, an edging disk arranged in close proximity with said feed roll and having its axis at right angles to the axis of the feed roll, a peripheral groove on said edging disk, means for rotating the feed roll and edging disk, and means on the edging disk for wiping into said peripheral groove the edge of material fed over said feed roll.

2. In a machine of the class described, a feed roll, a guide roll arranged above the feed roll, an edging disk arranged in close proximity with said feed roll and having its axis at right angles to the axis of the feed roll, a peripheral groove on said edging disk, means for rotating the feed roll and edging disk, and means on the edging disk for wiping into said peripheral groove the edge of material fed over said feed roll, said means comprising a plurality of fingers extending beyond the edge of the disk.

3. In a machine of the class described, a 100 guide member, an edging disk, a feed roll shaft, a feed roll arranged on said shaft below said guide member with its axis at right angles to the axis of said edging disk, said feed roll being provided with aplurality of 105 slightly spaced segmental sections adapted to be separately compressed inwardly and radially of the roll, each section forming a segment of a circle circumscribing said feed roll shaft, and means for driving the feed 110 roll and edging disk.

4. In a machine of the class described, feeding means, guiding means, and means for finishing the edge of material fed by said feeding means, said last mentioned 115 vmeansA comprising a peripherally grooved rotary disk having means thereon to engage the material and urge the same into said groove.

5. A machine of the class described, having in combination means for holding and feeding a leather article, and a revoluble edging disk disposed in close proximity to and substantially tangential with said feeding means, said edging disk having a peripheral groove, one wall of which is rabbeted.

6. A machine of the class described, having in combination means for holding and feeding a leather article, and a revoluble 13o edging disk disposed in close proximity to and substantially tangential with said feeding means, said edging disk having a plurality of peripheral grooves separated by a relatively sharp-edged rib.

7. In a machine of the class described, a rotary edging disk, a rotary feed member disposed in proximity to and in substantial tangential relation to said edging disk, said edging disk having a peripheral groove one Wall of which is rabbeted, and means rotating with said disk for wiping into said groove the edge of material fed over said feed member.

8. A machine of the class described, having in combination means for feeding a leather article, a revoluble edging disk disposed in close proximity to and substantially tangential with said feeding means, said edging disk having a plurality of peripheral grooves separated by a relatively sharp-edged. rib, and means rotating With said disk adapted to Wipe into said grooves the edge of material fed over said feeding means.

9. In a machine of the class described, a rotary edging disk having a peripheral groove, a rotary feed roll disposed in proximity to and in substantial tangential relation to said edging disk, a feed roll shaft, said feed roll having a plurality of segmental sections adapted to be separately compressed inwardly and radially of the roll, each section forming a segment of a circle circumscribing said feed roll shaft, means on said edging disk adapted to Wipe into said peripheral groove the edge of material fed over said feed roll, and means for imparting rotary movement to said roll and disk.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM E. FEIGE. 

